Alternative water sources
The effective management of hard options through relevant institutional building and investments in technical, financial and social capital is something I labelled to be 'soft options'. Soft options offer the potential to transform large-scale water developments into a more bottom-up, decentralised water infrastructure that can help improve freshwater availability in Awash basin. However, the implementation of such soft options require massive amounts of political will and fundamentally do not increase the amount of water resources in the basin. Soft options can therefore only go so far in improving freshwater availability in the basin, especially when demand keeps growing!
Earlier, I discussed how groundwater could be a potential mitigation tool for the impacts of climate change, specifically declines in surface water. Groundwater is less susceptible to the impacts of climate fluctuations due to its buffering capacity, arguably making it a more reliable resource than surface water (Calow and McDonald, 2009). Groundwater could therefore be an appropriate option for supplementing surface water resources (Worqlul et al., 2017), increasing the amount of water in the basin.
Groundwater potential
Ethiopia's Ministry of Water, Irrigation and Electricity (2015) assessed the groundwater potential in part of the Awash basin through estimating annual recharge using base flow, catchment area and rainfall. They found the annual groundwater recharge to be greater than groundwater usage and therefore there would be sufficient yields secured in target towns. The aquifers are regarded to be shallow and therefore groundwater reserves are deemed to be easily accessible (Worqlul et al., 2017). Additionally, groundwater usage in 2035 was predicted to be between one and five percent of the annual recharge across most of the basin (Ministry of Water, Irrigation and Electricity, 2015). It can be confirmed groundwater has the potential to improve freshwater access in rural and urban areas.
Achieving maximum benefits
The utilisation of groundwater would work best when coupled with other technologies; for instance, when agriculture is both the largest water user and sector in the basin, drip-irrigation and planting more drought-resilient crops could help maximise groundwater benefits and reduce the risk of food insecurity during times of drought.
Ensuring it happens
There has to be sufficient investment in groundwater reserves to improve capacity building, which would consequently ensure groundwater reserves reach their potential (such as in the example above). For instance, this could be improving drilling technology to ensure these reserves can be utilised, especially since the Rift Valley area exhibits a difficulty geology to drill (Ministry of Water, Irrigation and Electricity, 2015), to monitoring and assessing groundwater yields sufficiently to ensure a sustainable use.
This links back to the implementation of soft options and the necessity of political will. Groundwater can increase freshwater availability in the basin, but without adequate investment, management and governance of such reserves, there would still be a lack of access to freshwater. Additionally, as mentioned previously, management of such groundwater reserves must ensure the quality, as well as the quantity, is a healthy level; ultimately, access to groundwater reserves is useless if it's unsafe to use.
Although groundwater has not been recognised as an important aspect of African water resources in the past (Braune et al., 2009), groundwater reserves offer the potential to increase the amount of available water in the basin, especially during periods of low surface flow (the dry season). Groundwater may therefore become especially important in the future when climate change exacerbates drought conditions in the basin. It is essential that groundwater reserves are managed and utilised properly so they can meet their full potential and help all water users in the Awash basin.
Earlier, I discussed how groundwater could be a potential mitigation tool for the impacts of climate change, specifically declines in surface water. Groundwater is less susceptible to the impacts of climate fluctuations due to its buffering capacity, arguably making it a more reliable resource than surface water (Calow and McDonald, 2009). Groundwater could therefore be an appropriate option for supplementing surface water resources (Worqlul et al., 2017), increasing the amount of water in the basin.
Groundwater potential
Ethiopia's Ministry of Water, Irrigation and Electricity (2015) assessed the groundwater potential in part of the Awash basin through estimating annual recharge using base flow, catchment area and rainfall. They found the annual groundwater recharge to be greater than groundwater usage and therefore there would be sufficient yields secured in target towns. The aquifers are regarded to be shallow and therefore groundwater reserves are deemed to be easily accessible (Worqlul et al., 2017). Additionally, groundwater usage in 2035 was predicted to be between one and five percent of the annual recharge across most of the basin (Ministry of Water, Irrigation and Electricity, 2015). It can be confirmed groundwater has the potential to improve freshwater access in rural and urban areas.
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| Assessing existing groundwater reserves in the basin (Ministry of Water, Irrigation and Electricity, 2015) |
Achieving maximum benefits
The utilisation of groundwater would work best when coupled with other technologies; for instance, when agriculture is both the largest water user and sector in the basin, drip-irrigation and planting more drought-resilient crops could help maximise groundwater benefits and reduce the risk of food insecurity during times of drought.
Ensuring it happens
There has to be sufficient investment in groundwater reserves to improve capacity building, which would consequently ensure groundwater reserves reach their potential (such as in the example above). For instance, this could be improving drilling technology to ensure these reserves can be utilised, especially since the Rift Valley area exhibits a difficulty geology to drill (Ministry of Water, Irrigation and Electricity, 2015), to monitoring and assessing groundwater yields sufficiently to ensure a sustainable use.
This links back to the implementation of soft options and the necessity of political will. Groundwater can increase freshwater availability in the basin, but without adequate investment, management and governance of such reserves, there would still be a lack of access to freshwater. Additionally, as mentioned previously, management of such groundwater reserves must ensure the quality, as well as the quantity, is a healthy level; ultimately, access to groundwater reserves is useless if it's unsafe to use.
Although groundwater has not been recognised as an important aspect of African water resources in the past (Braune et al., 2009), groundwater reserves offer the potential to increase the amount of available water in the basin, especially during periods of low surface flow (the dry season). Groundwater may therefore become especially important in the future when climate change exacerbates drought conditions in the basin. It is essential that groundwater reserves are managed and utilised properly so they can meet their full potential and help all water users in the Awash basin.
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